"Hey! Beckman!"
Emerging from the passage and seeing the members of the Red Hair Pirates standing outside, A Tao, with a cigarette in his mouth, strode forward, clapped Beckman on the shoulder, and asked loudly, "Why are you guys here so quickly?"
"We don't abandon our family to weep alone."
Beckman glanced at A Tao, then turned and nodded to Kouta behind him, "Greetings, Mr. Kouta."
His gaze then fell on the dark passage behind Kouta and the others, and he asked, "Is Uta alright?"
It was clear that Uta was their greatest concern, so after Beckman's question, all the Red Hair Pirates members present looked at Kouta with serious expressions.
"Don't worry, she's fine."
Meeting their gazes, Kouta waved his hand, "The truth is like poison, very bitter, but under the warmth of family, even poison can be slowly purged. Besides, in my opinion, Uta here is at most an accomplice. The main culprit is that demon king, the one who knew about the forbidden score and didn't hide it, but instead placed it beneath this city."
"Gordon, am I right?"
Having said that, Kouta suddenly looked up, his gaze fixing on Gordon, who had been standing aside silently.
Gordon was speechless at Kouta's question.
When he saw the Red Hair Pirates return to Elegia, he had vaguely guessed Kouta's true objective.
He had clung to a sliver of hope, but when he truly saw the score hidden within the dome of the underground chamber appear in the silver-haired youth's hand, he knew that no amount of words now would make a difference.
Therefore…
Gordon looked up, his eyes fixed on Kouta, and said, "I should indeed bear the primary responsibility for the disaster nine years ago. If it weren't for my selfishness, for not hiding the score after discovering it, or for simply sinking it into the sea to ensure it never saw the light of day, even if Uta had sung in Elegia, it wouldn't have awakened the forbidden score."
"I cannot deny this, but I still have one question."
At this point, Gordon paused slightly, then looked sternly at the yellowed paper in Kouta's hand and asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Kouta, what exactly are you trying to do?"
He didn't believe Kouta had merely come to retrieve this piece of paper, which was now as useless as scrap in the young man's hands.
"What am I trying to do?"
Kouta raised his head, his gaze sweeping over all the members of the Red Hair Pirates, starting from Gordon.
He held up the paper in his hand.
At this moment, the paper no longer possessed any magical power, but the faintly visible characters on it seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world, exuding an extreme allure.
The black tadpole-shaped musical notes and the staff lines, under the sunlight, showed no gleam at all, as if even the sun's rays could not penetrate the blackness, appearing incredibly ominous.
"You all know what this is, right!"
"Tot Musica!"
The Red Hair Pirates members present had all experienced the disaster nine years ago, so everyone knew what the paper in Kouta's hand was.
Staring at the paper, Beckman silently took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit it, took a deep drag, and then looked at Kouta, "Mr. Kouta, since you've found Tot Musica, you should know how dangerous this thing is. Last night, after Shanks received your call, he rushed us here. We don't know what you and Shanks discussed, only that Uta is in trouble."
"Hoo~"
Clamping the cigarette butt with his fingers, Beckman exhaled the smoke from his mouth and then said, "Since we're here, can you tell us your plan now!"
Like Gordon, he didn't believe Kouta had simply come to find this paper and coincidentally let Uta know the truth.
"Since you all know what this is, you should also know that this score is merely a vessel that records the incantation to summon a demon king."
As he spoke, Kouta released the paper. It did not fall but floated upwards, hovering in the empty space before everyone.
Looking at the black tadpole-like musical notes, the smile disappeared from Kouta's face, and he said sternly, "Demon kings aren't actually terrifying. What's terrifying is the human heart's insatiable pursuit and greed for even better things."
"Since you all know that demon kings are the embodiment of human desires, you should understand that this thing is constantly growing stronger. Although this process is incredibly slow, so slow that even if all of us here grew old and died, the demon king would never become strong enough to manifest on its own."
"But this slowness has a time limit. Once the demon king absorbs enough negative emotions, it will no longer need this score, nor the power of the Uta Uta no Mi, which comes from the same origin, to directly appear in this world."
"And when that time comes, no one in this world will be able to stop it from doing anything."
There was one thing Kouta didn't say: even when that time came, as long as he was present, the demon king would not be able to stir up any significant trouble.
"You mean, you mean the demon king can emerge on its own in the future."
Gordon looked at Kouta with disbelief.
"Heh! You don't actually think this is a score casually composed by some musician, do you?"
Kouta looked at Gordon, pointed to the score before them, and a mocking smile touched his lips.
"This thing is less a score and more a bridge for the demon king to connect with this world, and an altar for it to absorb human negative emotions. And you, after knowing about the existence of the forbidden score, placed it in the basement of this city. Isn't that allowing the demon king to grow stronger by the minute?"
"How could that be?"
Upon hearing Kouta's words, Gordon instinctively took a step back.
"Are you alright?"
Beside him, the Red Hair Pirates' ship doctor, "Decker," with long hair and a scar on his left forehead, reached out to support Gordon and asked with concern.
"Thank you! I'm fine."
Gordon shook his head, offered Decker a bitter smile, and then straightened himself, gritting his teeth.
He had only known it to be a forbidden score passed down from ancient times, always considering it a treasure, a great find for humanity.
But he never imagined that Elegia, the city of music, had become a fertile ground for the demon king, a channel for it to gain power and connect with this world.
"No wonder nine years ago, when we faced the demon king, it felt overwhelmingly powerful. If Uta hadn't been too young and exhausted at the time, even all of us in the Red Hair Pirates might not have been able to defeat it then."
Looking at the paper before him, a glint flashed in Beckman's eyes. He reached out, with his cigarette in his mouth, took a deep drag, and then said, "I knew this guy was different from the ancient legends; it turns out he's been growing stronger all along!"